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Chavez Celebrates Release Of 2 Hostages

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By IAN JAMES, The Associated Press

Published: January 11, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela - Helicopters sent by Venezuela's president picked up two hostages freed by Colombian rebels in the jungle Thursday and flew the women across the border in a mission that could open a new path to freedom for dozens of captives.

Beaming in a forest clearing after six years in captivity, the women kissed the cheeks of heavily armed rebels, who then disappeared in a single-file column into the brush. The women, thin but apparently in good health, were flown to Caracas, where they were embraced by tearful relatives on the tarmac.

"We are being reborn!" Clara Rojas exclaimed.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greeted them with hugs and kisses at the presidential palace. The women and their families stood alongside him and sang Colombia's national anthem while a military band played. They made no public comments when they left in a car and a van.

Rojas was an aide to Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in February 2002 when the two were kidnapped on the campaign trail. She gave birth in captivity to a boy fathered by one of the guerrillas. Betancourt is still being held.

The other freed hostage, former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, had been abducted in September 2001. During her captivity, her husband died and a grandchild - now 2 - was born to one of her daughters. After getting off the plane, she embraced the child, and Chavez later held the girl in his arms.

Their release was a major triumph for Chavez, whose leftist ideology helped win him a mediation role with the rebels.

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